Executive Director

Over 50 years ago, a group of women activists, including June Callwood, realized there were only 40 beds for homeless women in Toronto, compared to the 400+ available to men. Moved to action by this inequality, the women founded Nellie’s, a 16-bed shelter, in 1973.
Today, Nellie’s is a place of respite and rejuvenation for women and their children navigating a variety of challenges. Through community outreach, skill-building programs, and space for the unhoused to find shelter, clients are empowered to take steps to change their lives. Nellie’s welcomes people who seek guidance as they reclaim their strength and tap into their resilience to find a new path for their life. The individuals who come through the shelter or access community outreach programs come to Nellie’s with unique experiences and needs. Nellie’s mandate to help all women and their children, regardless of circumstances, is what makes the organization’s work essential.
Nellie’s vision is to be a place where every woman* and her child(ren) who step through its doors finds a pathway to a violence-free life, and to advocate to ensure gender-based violence and oppression is a relic of the past.
Moving into the next 50 years, Nellie’s has big ambitions – a future free of Gender-Based Violence. It is within this context that Nellie’s welcomes applications and nominations for the position of Executive Director.
About the Opportunity:
Reporting to the Board of Directors, and supporting its committees, the Executive Director will oversee the implementation of the strategic plan and lead a vibrant organization that meets both the current and future needs of those in Nellie’s community with kindness, compassion, and excellence.
Through the leadership of a dedicated Management team, the Executive Director is responsible for key organizational functions including funding and fundraising, finance, human resources, program development, evaluation, and communications.
The Executive Director will support the organization’s evolution to meet current and future operational needs by updating policies, procedures, and strengthening program evaluation capabilities. The Executive Director will also advance Nellie’s stance against racism, oppression, and discrimination and actively work to dismantle systemic prejudices and injustices that perpetuate gender-based violence, promoting a just and fair society for all.
As the principal spokesperson for Nellie’s, the Executive Director will develop relationships with funders, politicians, community partners and other stakeholders. As an active participant at policy and community tables, the Executive Director will advocate for systems change and represent the organization within the community and across sectors.
About the Individual:
Nellie’s is seeking a visionary, strategic leader, and a community builder with a passion for and commitment to Nellie’s mission, vision, and values. Lived experience connected to Nellie’s mission is an asset.
You have progressive management experience within the not-for-profit sector, ideally within the gender-based violence, housing, social services or related sector(s). Experience leading teams within a unionized environment and with union negotiations is an asset. You have experience working with a volunteer Board of Directors, coupled with the ability to develop and execute strategic initiatives. You have financial acumen, knowledge of human resource management and change management, and fundraising skills; facilities management experience is an asset.
You are comfortable representing the organization and serving as its ambassador within the community. Your interpersonal and communication skills enable you to build and sustain strong relationships with colleagues and diverse stakeholders at all levels and across sectors, including community partners, funders, donors, elected officials, task forces, and other organizations.
Your leadership skills build trust, engagement, and collaboration, and you foster an empowering, supportive, and inclusive environment. You have a commitment equity and inclusion, feminist, anti-racist and anti-oppressive frameworks, trauma informed approaches and harm reduction principles.
Location: This position is based in Toronto, Ontario.
Salary Range and Compensation: $115,000 to $140,000 with possible flexibility and a competitive and generous benefits package.
To Apply:
To apply or explore this key leadership opportunity with Nellie’s please submit a comprehensive resume along with a cover letter in confidence to Sam Walton, Partner (sam@griffithgroup.ca) and/or Robin Noftall, Principal (robin@griffithgroup.ca).
Nellie’s Commitment to Inclusion:
Nellie’s is committed to the development of an agency that reflects the women it serves. This position is open to all women*. Women* signifies anyone who self-identifies as female, femme and/or woman. This includes transwomen, cisgender women, and non-binary people who identify as femme or female-presenting. Applications from equity-deserving groups are strongly encouraged, including Indigenous persons, racialized persons, persons with disabilities, persons of all sexual orientations and members of other equity-deserving groups.
Nellie’s and Griffith Group are committed to an inclusive, accessible and welcoming hiring process that provides reasonable accommodation to all applicants. Please advise Sam Walton (sam@griffithgroup.ca) should you require any accommodation to participate in the recruitment and assessment processes.
Priority will be given to individuals legally entitled to work in Canada.
Nellie’s is situated in Tkarón:to (Ta-kar-on-toe) which is located on the traditional lands of the Mississauga (Missi-sog-a), the Anishinaabe (Ah-nish-nah-bay), the Haudenosaunee (Ho-deh-no-show-nee), the Chippewa (Chi-puh-waa), the Huron (Hur-on), and many other Indigenous Peoples.
Nellie’s acknowledges all Treaty Peoples, including those who came here as settlers, as migrants either in this generation or in generations past, and those of us who came here involuntarily, particularly those brought to these lands as a result of the transatlantic slave trade and slavery. We pay tribute to those ancestors of African origin and descent.

Dean, The G. Raymond Chang School of Continuing Education

Guided by a bold Academic Plan, an ambitious research agenda, and a Master Plan to revitalize the campus and surrounding neighbourhood, Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) is among the most applied-to universities in Ontario and its reputation with business and community leaders continues to rise. TMU offers more than 129 undergraduate and graduate programs. Culturally diverse and inclusive, the university is home to more than 47,000 students, including nearly 3,000 master’s and PhD students, over 4,700 faculty and staff, and more than 217,000 alumni worldwide. TMU was ranked number one on the Forbes list of Canada’s Best Employers for Diversity in 2023, a ranking of the top 150 organizations across the country promoting creative, diverse, equitable and inclusive workplaces.

The G. Raymond Chang School of Continuing Education is Canada’s largest and most successful continuing education program with approximately 70,000 enrollments per year. The Chang School offers more than 1,500 courses, microcredentials seminars, and workshops, 81 career-related certificate programs, 12 part-time degree programs, and courses towards accreditation by nine professional institutes and associations. Most of its certificate programs offer career-related professional development programs in collaboration with the university’s eight Faculties: Arts; The Ted Rogers School of Management; Community Services; The Creative School; Engineering and Architectural Science; Science, Law, and Medicine. Flexible, accessible programming is available on campus, via online distance education, and off-site for employee groups and external corporate partners. Committed to meeting the changing needs of society and its local community, the Chang School has partnerships with diverse professional associations, societies, and institutes, and is connected to other educational institutions, industry leaders, associations, and the local community.

It is within this context that Toronto Metropolitan University invites applications and nominations for the appointment of its next Dean, The G. Raymond Chang School of Continuing Education, commencing January 1, 2025, or soon thereafter. This appointment will be for a term of five years and is renewable for a second term as outlined in the Policy and Procedures Relating to Search Committees and Appointments in the Academic Administration (AAA Policy).

Reporting to the Provost and Vice-President, Academic, Dr. Roberta Iannacito-Provenzano, the Dean, The G. Raymond Chang School of Continuing Education (“Chang School”) is responsible for all aspects of the School’s operations including strategy, policy development, implementation, and financial and human resources management. The Dean will continue to enhance the School’s excellence in continuing education in a highly competitive and changing environment of lifelong learning. The Dean will foster a collaborative culture that supports the School’s lecturers, faculty and staff, and ensure existing and future relationships with all of its partners are positive and enhance the School’s reputation and credibility as Canada’s largest provider of university-based continuing education. The Dean will contribute to TMU’s successful academic and strategic planning process and build an accountability framework that demonstrates and promotes the School’s academic quality, responsiveness, and fiscal responsibility through revenue generation activities. The Dean also supports the School’s, and University’s, objectives in fundraising and alumni relations.

As the ideal candidate, you are an exemplary leader who brings a vision and passion for lifelong learning with progressive experience in senior leadership roles from both within a post-secondary and continuing education environment. Your career includes a track record of innovation and growth that supports both lifelong learning and revenue generation activities, financial acumen and budgetary management. Experience with negotiations and collective bargaining in a unionized workplace environment is considered a strong asset. The leadership style and attributes which will benefit the successful candidate include being consultative and collaborative, an outstanding communicator with strong listening skills, a strong advocate of equity, diversity, inclusion and accessibility, and an engaging problem solver who is respectful. You are enthusiastic, hold a strong commitment to lifelong learning, a demonstrated record of building innovative and co-operative working relationships, and possess the leadership skills to foster positive and collaborative relationships with TMU’s academic units and ensure ongoing success in an entrepreneurial continuing education setting. Familiarity with university constituencies is a strong asset. Candidates must hold a graduate degree, preferably a Ph.D. The ideal candidate embodies what Toronto Metropolitan University is known for: collegiality, innovation and entrepreneurship, nimbleness, and responsiveness.

About TMU

TMU cherishes its role as a city-builder and continues to reshape the downtown core of Toronto. The University has opened a series of new buildings including the Mattamy Athletic Centre at Maple Leaf Gardens, the Image Centre, the Sheldon and Tracy Levy Student Learning Centre, the Centre for Urban Innovation, and the Daphne Cockwell Health Sciences Complex. In Fall 2020, TMU opened its doors to the first cohort of law students, establishing TMU’s new Lincoln Alexander School of Law providing leading-edge legal education with a focus on contemporary issues. In March 2022, the Province of Ontario confirmed its support for TMU’s proposed School of Medicine, which will house 94 medical school seats for undergraduate learners and 105 postgraduate seats. TMU’s School of Medicine in Brampton will welcome its first cohort of medical learners in 2025.

Application Information

Please note that once in this position, the successful candidate is an “associate member” of the Toronto Metropolitan University Faculty Association (TFA) (www.rfanet.ca). The TFA collective agreement can be viewed ​here​; a summary of TFA benefits can be found ​here​.

Toronto Metropolitan University welcomes those who have demonstrated a commitment to upholding the values of equity, diversity, and inclusion and will assist us in expanding our capacity for diversity in the broadest sense. In addition, to correct the conditions of disadvantage in employment in Canada, we encourage applications from members of groups that have been historically disadvantaged and marginalized, including First Nations, Métis and Inuit peoples, Indigenous peoples of North America, Black-identified persons, other racialized persons, persons with disabilities, and those who identify as women and/or 2SLGBTQ+. TMU is committed to accessibility for persons with disabilities. To find out more about legal and policy obligations please visit the accessibility and Human Rights websites.

To apply, or explore this key academic leadership position at Toronto Metropolitan University further, please submit a curriculum vitae along with a cover letter in confidence to Jane Griffith (jane@griffithgroup.ca) and/or Caroline McLean (caroline@griffithgroup.ca).

All applications must be received before 5pm ET on Friday August 16, 2024.

Toronto Metropolitan University is an equal opportunity employer. In accordance with the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, 2005, upon request, accommodation will be provided by both Griffith Group and Toronto Metropolitan University throughout the recruitment, selection and/or assessment process to applicants with disabilities.